2 computers-one cable line

[NYC37]

i need to share a cable connection between two computers. the first computer has windows 98, a d-link nic and is running at 333mhz. the other is a window xp computer with an intel pro 100/s nic card, and has a 1ghz cpu. i have a motorola surfboard sb4100 cable modem (it has one ethernet port on it, and one usb. But they cant be used at the same time.) what hardware/software do i need? i plan on using the xp computer more than 98 computer, if that matters.

Thanks in advance.

[Legionnaire]

BUy a router. They run around 100 bucks, plus 6 for the cables, but you wont have to pay for a second IP addy like with a crossover cable, which will save you anywhere up to 10 bucks a month. My advice is get a 4 port router(or 3 port w/USB) and then peeps can crash yo house fer LAN parties. Hope it helps!

[Maddman]

Or if you are really straped for cash you can get a second NIC card for one of the computers and use ICS to share the conection

[Oni]

Most cable companies offer about 3 ip's per modem. Buy a hub, but phone your cable co first.

[PolyPill]

I wouldn't use any of those solutions if it were me.

What I would do it plug the cable modem into your XP computer through the usb. Then connect your 2 computers through ethernet, with with a hub or a cross over cable. You can then select the usb network interface that will show up in your network configuration, right click on it and go into properties. Then on the far right tab there will be internet sharing. Enable that, it'll assing your nic card a 192.168.0.1 address, then just set your other computer to have 192.168.0.15 or something, with the gateway as 192.168.0.1

This is the cheapest way, and it works great, I do the same thing except use a 2nd nic in the XP, but it works the same way.

[trey_w]

or you can put one nic card in the XP machine, then istall a firewire(IEEE1394 card in both machines.

run the broadband connection to the nic card on the XP machine

then connect the 2 computer with a firewire cable

then set up ICS, i hate ICS

its faster than a crossover cable and 2 more nic cards, but more expensive.

by the time you buy all of it you would be better off with a router

if you have a old comp, you could istall linux on it and make it a router that way

food for thought

[PolyPill]

Originally posted by trey_w
or you can put one nic card in the XP machine, then istall a firewire(IEEE1394 card in both machines.

run the broadband connection to the nic card on the XP machine

then connect the 2 computer with a firewire cable

then set up ICS, i hate ICS

its faster than a crossover cable and 2 more nic cards, but more expensive.

by the time you buy all of it you would be better off with a router

if you have a old comp, you could istall linux on it and make it a router that way

food for thought

Firewire cable only goes 3ft, isn't very practical unless you're going to be doing some high demand networking.

i still think my solution is the best as long as you know how or can get someone to make a custom cable for you.

There's no need for another router or computer acting as a router as long as you use XP on 1 computer, it has connection sharing built in.

It isn't as complicated and costs a hell of a lot less.

[trey_w]

I wasn't saying that my way was the best way, it was a suggestion that I had heard no one else make

I personally run a router and cannot stand ICS

its ok for some things, but if you have broadband especially, and you want to effeciantly run servers and play games on multiple comps on the Internet, with a single connection, I would not use it.

it compromises band with between the comps, that's why I suggest a router, especially for the hardware firewall it has and the ability to play internet games on multiple comps and run servers off of one line.

there are no right answers to this question, you must way the benefits and costs

[PolyPill]

I haven't had any problems playing games or running servers using ICS. As for how much bandwidth it uses I seriously doubt it's a lot, all I have is 10mbps connection in the local network and my downloads between computers are in the 9mbps, which would be normal without ICS.

I used ICS up until 2 days ago when XP died misteriously, so I booted it into linux and I haven't noticed any difference between XP's ICS and Linux's IPChains.

[trey_w]

if your only dealing with 10Mbits per sec., then ICS is fine, i am not

if you were running anything faster, there would be a difference.

[NYC37]

sorry me reply took so long, school work in way.

If i used ics, i put in a 2nd ethernet card and everything, which cable do i conect in which card? does it matter? And are the fw built into routers usefull? 'cause i know that my computer get a hack attempt every 2nd day almost, and a fw would be great, one that dosnt ask me everytime a new program tries to acces the internet if i want to let the program do so(Zonealarm)

Thanks for help again

[trey_w]

if you use ICS with 3 NIC cards, 2 NICS in 1 comp, and the other NIC in the 2nd comp, you will need a patch cable from the cable modem to the first comps 1st NIC card.

then take a cross over cable and link it from the 1st comp other NIC to the 2nd comps NIC

then install ICS and set everything up


i recommend a router though

with the router you have one ip that goes into it, unless you have more

the router spoofs it, making the ip unpingable.

then in your set up you basically open the ports you want open and close the ones you want closed

behind the firewall you can assign static ip's to every comp

like 192.168.1.101
192.168.1.102 and so on

make sure you set your DNS configurations and a default gateway at like 192.168.1.50

Note: if you run more than 2 NICS in a Comp, get different brands because there can be conflicts

[PolyPill]

The only reason I don't like the router solution is because it makes hosting servers (gaming or inet) a b*@%! to set up. Inet servers are a little easier since you've only got to forward a few ports that don't change (80 for http, 21 for ftp, etc) but with games each one uses a different port and these ports change depending on the game you want to host. Not only does hosting become a problem, but a poor quality router will make simply playing them online a difficult task.

With ICS you've got your main machine (usually the fastest) as a gateway, which the outside can see and there for makes thing easier.

I see no need for a 100mbps network in a house, your inet connection is only 1.5mbps MAX, and there isn't a game out there that deosn't run well on a 1.5mbps connection, so a 100mbps is just over kill. Only increases you will see is for file transfer, but how often do you really do this? Are you transfering your hard drive on a daily basis or something like that?

As for security, what the heck are you running that you think people are trying to crack you? Your ISP will do port scans, which look like crack attempts, and there are a few that scan for open ports with the intent of cracking, but I don't see why they would choose you as a target. Especially if you don't run any servers. If you run a server a firewall isn't going to save you, you still have to leave the server's port open.

Maybe I'm clueless here, but why does everyone think everyone wants to look at their mp3s and games that they save on their comps? I think of it like the vandal that walks around slashing car tires, breaking windows, and stealing cd players. If you really wanted to you could steal a cd player, but why aren't you? because you've got some morals. There are the few morally corrupt that do this, and when they do it's usually because there's something nice inside. Your home computer is like the pinto with an AM/FM stereo. Nothing of real interest or worth, but you can get the random derelict trash it for no reason. The servers and company computers are the BMWs, they've got things that are worth the time and effort. Do you put a net or security system on your pinto?


Yes you get the idiot that steals AM/FM stereos,and you might have something of worth on your home comp, but who knows it's there? Security through obscurity.

If you do get cracked it's equivilant to the kid walking down the street throwing rocks at parked cars. The only reason your car got hit was because the kid wanted to cause trouble and your car was there at the wrong time.
I typed a lot, but I'm at work and have nothing better to do.